Customer and employee ideas are the key to innovation.

Innovation is not the problem. Not listening to your customers and employee ideas is the problem. 

Stagnant business results + p&l focused innovation = low customer adoption, low traction and lower than expected business performance and results. 

To make things worse, your competitors seem to innovate at scale much quicker leading to improved results, market share and customer loyalty. 

Leading brands leverage customer and employee ideas as their innovation hub. 

Here's what's happening today: 

Executive leaders are fighting current headwinds and economic challenges. You know innovation is critical to surviving the storm and creating a sustainable business. Therefore, your executive leadership team relies on their past successes from previous companies... “we should do this, we should do that.”  

Additionally, brands look at the experience leaders like Apple and Amazon as their source for inspiration. Executives focus strongly on their direct competitors, “let’s replicate that.” 

This is a mistake. Brands that don't listen to their customers and employees are more likely to fail. They are more likely to create products and services that their customers don't want, and they are more likely to miss out on opportunities to innovate. 

If you're an executive leader, I urge you to listen to your customers and employees. They are the ones who are closest to your products and services, and they are the ones who know what your customers really want. If you listen to them, your brand will be able to innovate quicker and at scale. You will get adoption and traction leading to increased growth, revenue and profit. 

Customer and Employee Ideas Are the Key to Innovation 

Customer and employee ideas are the most valuable source of innovation for any company. They come from people who are closest to the product or service, and they can help companies to identify and solve problems that they may not be aware of. 

Let’s take a look at some examples of customer and employee lead innovation. 

Jenny, the CX Leader, elevating customer ideas: 

Jenny is a customer experience manager at a large tech company. She's passionate about her job and loves helping customers solve their problems. But lately, she's been feeling a little stagnant. She feels like she's not making a big enough impact, and she's starting to wonder if she's in the right career. 

One day, Jenny receives an email from a customer. The customer is frustrated with the company's product, and they have a few ideas for how it could be improved. Jenny is intrigued by the customer's ideas, and she starts to think about how they could be implemented. 

Jenny is hesitant to share the customer's ideas with her team. She's worried that they'll be rejected, and she doesn't want to get her hopes up. But she knows that she has to try, so she takes a deep breath and sends the email. 

Jenny's team is receptive to the customer's ideas, and they start working on a plan to implement them. Jenny is excited to see her ideas come to life, and she's grateful to the customer for giving her the courage to share them. 

The team faces some challenges along the way, but they're determined to make the customer's ideas a reality. They work closely with the customer to get their feedback, and they make sure that the changes are in line with the company's goals. 

The team finally finishes implementing the customer's ideas, and they're thrilled with the results. The product is more user-friendly and efficient, and customers are much happier. Jenny is proud of what she and her team have accomplished, and she knows that they've made a real difference. 

Jenny is inspired by her experience, and she's determined to continue listening to customer feedback and incorporating it into her work. She knows that by doing so, she can help the company create products and services that are truly customer-centric. 

The flywheel has begun. The motivated team sees the impact. They are ready to get more feedback to drive innovation. 

Elevating a co-workers idea via the company’s innovation program: 

Ava is a software engineer at a large tech company. She's been with the company for a few years, and she's always been a creative thinker. She's always coming up with new ideas for how to improve the company's products and services. 

One day, Ava has an idea for a new feature that could be added to the company's product. She's excited about her idea, but she's not sure if it's worth pursuing. She's worried that her idea will be rejected, and she doesn't want to waste her time. 

Ava decides to talk to her manager about her idea. Her manager is supportive, and they encourage Ava to submit her idea to the company's innovation program. Ava is hesitant, but she knows that she has to try. 

Ava's idea is selected for the innovation program, and she's paired with a mentor who can help her develop her idea. The mentor is a seasoned engineer who has a lot of experience in product development. Ava is grateful for the mentor's help, and she's starting to feel more confident about her idea. 

Ava and her mentor work hard to develop the idea. They face some challenges along the way, but they're determined to make it a reality. They work with other engineers and product managers to get feedback on the idea, and they make sure that it's in line with the company's goals. 

After several months of hard work, Ava and her team are finally ready to launch the new feature. They're nervous, but they're also excited. They know that this is their chance to make a real difference. 

The new feature is a success. Customers love it, and it's a major hit with the company's sales team. Ava is proud of what she and her team have accomplished, and she knows that they've made a real difference. She's inspired by her experience, and she's determined to continue coming up with new ideas that can help the company grow. 

Again, the flywheel has begun. The motivated team sees the impact. They are ready to get more feedback to drive innovation. 

Don’t know where to start? 

First, engage your customers.  

Next, engage your employees. 

Finally, start with the idea overlap. 

Of course, not all customer and employee ideas are good ones. But even the bad ideas can be valuable, because they can help companies to learn what their customers and employees are thinking. 

The best way to collect customer and employee ideas is to create a system for tracking and managing them. This system should make it easy for people to submit ideas, and it should also provide a way for companies to give feedback on the ideas. 

Once companies have collected a pool of ideas, they need to be selective about which ones to implement. Not all ideas are feasible or cost-effective, so companies need to be realistic about what they can achieve. 

But even if a company doesn't implement an idea, it should still give the person who submitted the idea credit for their thoughtfulness. This will encourage people to continue submitting ideas, and it will also show that the company values their input. 

Here are some actionable tips for businesses that want to collect and implement customer and employee ideas: 

• Create a system for collecting ideas.  
• Make it easy for people to submit ideas. The system should be easy to use and understand, and it should be accessible to everyone in the company. 
• Give people credit for their ideas. When an idea is implemented, make sure to give the person who submitted the idea credit for their contribution. 
• Implement the best ideas. Not all ideas will be good ones, but the best ideas should be implemented as soon as possible.